VOTERS in the six polling stations in the Akwatia Constituency where the 2008 parliamentary election is to be re-run have appealed to the government to institute the necessary security measures to ensure a free and fair election.
Tough security measures, they said, would discourage individuals and groups who were bent on engaging in electoral fraud and the snatching of ballot boxes to discredit the outcome of the election.
According to them, adequate security presence in the area during the election would also ensure a violence-free atmosphere that would encourage a high voter turnout.
The election at the six polling stations were disrupted last year, making it impossible for the Electoral Commission (EC) to declare a winner for the Akwatia Constituency.
As a result, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate, Baba Jamal, and two independent candidates, Basil Ahiable and Samuel Abrokwah, petitioned a High Court in Koforidua to have the entire election in the Akwatia Constituency re-run.
However, the Supreme Court, on July 15, this year, unanimously ruled that the EC must determine which polling stations it wished to re-re-run.
Although the EC is yet to announce a date for the re-run, voters in the constituency have expressed worry that failure on the part of the government to ensure adequate security could trigger a repeat of the violence that characterised last year’s election.
Some of the voters who spoke to the Daily Graphic on Tuesday noted that the constituency had become a flashpoint, a situation that called for more stringent security measures to be taken to forestall any electoral fraud and the snatching of ballot boxes in the upcoming election.
Mr Emmanuel Asihene, a 40-year-old teacher, expressed worry over rumours making the rounds in the area that indicated that some of the youth were hatching a plot to engage in ballot-box snatching as part of an attempt to once again discredit the credibility of the re-run election.
He also indicated that rumours were rife that the youth were bent on embarking on a massive violent demonstration “to disorganise the smooth conduct of the election in the area”.
Nana Adwoa Owusua, the Akwatia Gyaasehema, for her part, said Akwatia had gained notoriety for violence, and as the two main political parties, the NDC and the NPP, were bent on doing everything to win the seat, the presence of well-armed security personnel at all the polling centres would deter those who intended to mar the electoral process.
According to her, the absence of a Member of Parliament (MP) for the area in the past seven months had adversely hindered the socio-economic development of the town, asking in the process, “How long will we allow violence to destroy our resolve to elect an MP to facilitate the development of our communities?”
Nana Owusua also called on the government to work closely with the two main political parties to educate their followers to be law-abiding and refrain from taking the law into their own hands on voting day.
Nana Owusu Ansah, a 69-year-old pensioner, stated that violence in the six polling centres erupted when many of the electorate at the Akyem-Wenchi polling area were prevented from casting their votes.
“To prevent anything like that ever happening again, the security personnel must make their presence felt to allow every voter to cast his or her vote to ensure a free and fair election,” he stated.
Masawood Saeed, a teacher, said since the two main political parties perceived winning the seat as a “do-or-die affair”, the government must double the presence of security men and women during the upcoming election to prevent any unnecessary political confrontation among the people.
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